oldfiddler

I had to go to a conference in Hawaii. Upside – it was Hawaii! but big Downside: nonstop from Newark. :( Anyone volunteer to get bumped and upgraded? Me! Me! ME! in a new york second. Totally worth it. Stretch out, get sherry, port, single malt, crumbly pastry, melt in your mouth steak, arrive relaxed and refreshed. What a deal! I would do it again but it would cost about an extra $1200 over the regular fare and my accounts guy would be screaming….

I have been to Alaska four times. It is heart-achingly beautiful, the people are mostly friendly and welcoming, but they have their own ways. Some stories: ten hikers and I were sitting around the campfire with two wonderful guides who had been very sensitively teaching us nature studies. Someone asked about bears and they got into a huge argument about whether a .457 pistol or a shotgun was a better protection… then they whipped out their pistols to compare notes. oooh-kay! And, 2) when my son and I drove from Fairbanks south he had the car radio on ‘seek’ for four hours without picking up a single station. And 3) we saw so many whales and they were right there – I mean RIGHT there! 4) the area right around Anchorage and south to Kenai or Homer is the best… forget about the north, Denali was a big disappointment…we saw Moose right in Anchorage city. If you like to fish, this is paradise… but bring heavy tackle… we had gear for trout and the Alaskan trout just ripped it to shreds. And don’t step on the tidal flats unless you want to be caught by the mud and drowned in the next incoming tide. Alaska is not for people who are afraid of wilderness or want a pretty BnB – go to Maine instead. Alaska is for people who will sleep quietly when they hear snuffling outside their tent because they know they put the food sack thirty feet up in the tree and they are packing protection.

I guess this is an OK emergency skill, it should take about 8 or 10 hours to get it down and a couple months of driving before you are totally comfortiable. Those of us who learned to drive on stick shift in the old days, you know we couldn’t wait to get an automatic! I have never regretted not having a stick. I was reminded about this recently because my son bought an expensive 5speed stick shift car and decided he didnt like it so I traded him for my cheaper car. Bad idea. It is a real nuisance driving around in East Coast city traffic. Maybe if I lived in Kentucky or Utah and had some deserted spaces to scoot around this would be more fun, but in the city it stinks. And forget about answering your cell when you are driving a stick unless you court death.